Letters from the Heart Read Online Free PDF Page A

mom. Right?” asked Charlotte, looking toward Katani.
    â€œI’ll keep him hidden. We don’t really use our carriage house, so I can make a bed for him in there,” Avery insisted. When everyone looked questioningly at her, she added, “I promise. He won’t be in anyone’s way. Anyway, my mom isn’t even going to be around much this weekend! She’s got lots of meetings. She’s planning some kind of big fund-raising event for that boarding school she went to when she was in high school.” Avery’s voice sounded teary. “Come on, guys. Just this once—let me take him!”
    The girls looked uncertainly at each other. Avery was so head over heels in love with Marty that she couldn’t always be rational when it came to making plans about him. But they could see that Avery was near tears and that was so unlike her. Avery was tough; she never cried about anything. But Marty was special. After all, she was the onewho insisted that all the girls adopt him.
    â€œAvery,” Charlotte said slowly. “What if your mother finds out and gets really mad at you, or at all of us?”
    â€œFirst of all, she won’t find out. Second of all, even if she does, she can’t get mad because I won’t keep him in the house, where his hair would bother her. Please, guys. Give me a chance. I’ll keep him safe and out of the way in the carriage house. I’ll walk him every day and snuggle with him and play Frisbee. It will be so great and Marty will be with someone who loves him.”
    Charlotte didn’t know what to say. Nobody did. They had never seen Avery so…so desperate for something. “Well, if you really think it’ll be okay,” she said at last.
    None of the girls could think of a better plan. Someone needed to take care of Marty for the weekend. Maybe Avery was right. Marty hated going to the vet’s and really—how much could possibly go wrong between Friday and Sunday evening?
    Just then Nick Montoya walked by the girls’ table. “Hey Charlotte, do you want to go over that Properties of Water experiment that’s due tomorrow before science next period?” he asked casually.
    Charlotte could feel her cheeks burn as Nick waited expectantly for an answer. “Sure. I’ll meet you in the lab in a few minutes.”
    Charlotte and the other Beacon Street Girls watched him walk off. “Oh, this is so embarrassing,” moaned Charlotte as she placed her hands on her pink cheeks. “I just can’t stop blushing when I see him. It’s a total curse!”
    â€œSomebody needs to invent an anti-blush cream,” stated Katani.
    â€œYou could call it Blush Free Forever or BFF for short,” quipped Isabel.
    Q UEENS OF M EAN V ERSUS Y URT…
    Suddenly, Dillon and Pete Wexler rushed by the table. “Science lab now! Anna and Joline are chasing Henry Yurt around the lab. He dumped water on Anna’s head, and she’s melting!” he cackled in his best imitation of the Wicked Witch of the West.
    Marty was completely forgotten for the moment as the girls and everybody around them ran to catch the drama in the lab. No one wanted to miss it. Luckily the girls were right by the door of the cafeteria because the Yurt versus Anna and Joline story was spreading like wildfire through the cafeteria. The halls were filled with kids running and laughing at the idea of the nerdiest kid in seventh grade being chased around science lab by the school’s “coolest” girls.
    Avery was the first of the Beacon Street Girls to reach the door. Nick Montoya was already leaning at the doorway—a big grin plastered on his face. Anna and Joline were standing to one side of the lab bench. Black streaks of mascara dripped down Anna’s face, wet stringy hair ruining her perfect look. Both Anna and Joline were looking like they could take Henry Yurt and bury him alive. Mr. Richardson was glaring at